UFC 121 was possibly the last time heavyweight Gabriel Gonzaga stepped foot inside an MMA cage.Gonzaga says he's unsure if he'll fighting again after receiving his UFC walking papers following the loss to Brendan Schaub on Oct. 23 in Anaheim. In a vlog released early Tuesday (video below), Gonzaga stated he would only come back if compensated to his standards.
"MMA I don't know because I'm not going to fight for cheap money, and the UFC was paying me well," the 31-year-old Gonzaga said. "Another organization is there and I don't know if they are interested in me or not. My main goal is to not fight MMA again, but if you have a good prize, I can be back fighting."
There is one thing for certain though: the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt will return to his grappling roots. Gonzaga, who actively competed in grappling until joining the UFC in 2005 and has his own BJJ program at Team Link in Ludlow, Mass., will stay active by entering major grappling tournaments.
"I definitely will try to fight again in ADCC and BJJ and Mundials and important grappling tournaments," he said.
A former UFC title contender, Gonzaga is 11-6 in MMA overall, but went into a skid the last two years, losing to top competitors Shane Carwin, Junior dos Santos and prospect Schaub with a sole win over Chris Tuchscherer.
"Definitely, I can fight again but it's not going to be soon," Gonzaga said. "I'm not looking for right now and I don't know they want to pay me what I think I should have to fight. So a lot of ifs, a lot of if I'm going to fight or not. It's not completely done, but it's not completely come back, so maybe. 'Maybe' is the word."
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